Regulatory Self-efficacy as a Moderator of Peer Socialization Relating to Italian Adolescents' Alcohol Intoxication

The present study investigated regulatory self-efficacy (RSE) as a predictor of friendship and adolescent alcohol intoxication and as a moderator of peer socialization processes related to alcohol intoxication. The longitudinal sample included 457 Italian adolescents (262 females and 195 males) ranging in age of 14 to 20 years (M = 16.1 years of age). Sociometric and behavioral data were collected at the beginning and end of the academic school year. Actor-based models were applied to simultaneously estimate selection and socialization processes accounting for interdependencies among friends’ drinking behaviors. The results indicated that adolescents did not select friends with similar levels of alcohol intoxication or RSE, but adolescents did adopt their friends’ drinking behaviors. RSE was negatively associated with adolescent drinking behaviors and moderated socialization processes related to alcohol use, with adolescents reporting higher levels of RSE being less likely to adopt their friends’ drinking behaviors than adolescents with lower levels of RSE.